Police in Belgian town say they 'forgot' to pass along information about Paris attacker's whereabouts

The police in the Belgian town of Mechelen knew the
whereabouts of the prime suspect behind the Paris terrorist
attacks, Salah Abdeslam, as far back as December — but failed to
share the intelligence with other Belgian authorities.

The Flemish newspaper
De Morgen first reported the news, which was later confirmed
by Mechelen's police chief, Yves Bogaerts, in a news
conference.

"Unfortunately, a mistake has been made within my team," he
said, according to De Morgen. "A colleague with an excellent
record of service forgot to pass on the information from
[Abdeslam's] file."

The Mechelen police apparently received a tip from
Abdeslam's nephew,Abid Aberkan, in November that
Abdeslam may have been hiding in Mechelen, a town just north of
Brussels. The Mechelen police filed the report on Abdeslam's
whereabouts on December 7, three weeksafter the
fugitive was believed to have helped plan and carry out
November's Paris attacks, which killed 130 people.

The information was evidently supposed to be transferred to
the Antwerp prosecutor's office and referred to the federal
police. Abdeslam was captured in a raid by Belgian police
officers last week — after three months that he most likely spent
planning Tuesday's attacks in Brussels, authorities have
said.

The incident highlights the fragmented nature of Belgium's
security apparatus. In Brussels alone, the police force is
divided among six police corps spread out over 19
boroughs.

Françoise Schepmans, the mayor of Molenbeek — the
Brussels district where Abdeslam wasarrested
that is known as a hotbed for jihadists—
told CNN
there was "no collaboration" between the local and federal
police forces in Belgium.

"They don't have to talk to me about their investigation,"
Schepmans said, referring to the police in different
districts.

People
observed a minute of silence Thursday at a street memorial to
victims of Tuesday's bombings in Brussels.REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

At least 30 peoplewere reported killedand hundreds more
wounded after explosions ripped throughZaventem
Airportand a metro station in Brussels on Tuesday
morning.

Belgian authorities have been criticized over reports
that they interrogated Abdeslam for only one hourbetween the time he was captured last week and Tuesday's
attacks.

Abdeslam's lawyer has insisted that hewas not aware of the plot. But prosecutors say they
have linked Abdeslam to the attacks, noting that his
fingerprints
were foundin a Brussels apartment that had been rented
out by one of the Brussels suicide bombers, KhalidEl Bakraoui.

Belgium's interior minister, Jan Jambon, and BelgianJustice Minister Koen Geensboth offered to
resign after the attacks over the security lapses that may have
allowed the attackers to plan and carry out their attacks
undetected. Their resignations were refused by Belgian Prime
Minister Charles Michel.